Work Text:
Medic's eyes went wide as the grenade landed at his feet. A cylindrical canister; it bounced, rolled, and came to a stop, recoiling slightly after tapping the tip of his boot, almost as if in apology, coyly genuflecting out of sheer embarrassment for such a trespass. He cried out, digging his heel into the loose, dry dirt and heaving himself behind a heavy concrete barrier beside him.
The explosion half-deafened him, a dull ringing the only thing one ear would register. He felt dizzy, and was soon showered in rocks and chunks of that same concrete barrier, propelled skyward and raining down on the terrain below. His breaths came short and shallow, his brush with respawn abrupt and sudden.
“You alright there, Cupcake?” Soldier teased, jogging from around the corner to see the haggard doctor crouching against the wall, blanched white. He offered a hand to Medic, who took it with a scowl, climbing to his feet with no small effort, considering the weight of his gear.
“There is a demoman around that corner, and he was firing grenades this way. I had to duck into cover.”
“Then why do you look like you've seen a ghost?”
“Because it surprised me, and I was amazed I got away in time-- does it matter?”
“Is that the Quick-Fix?”
Medic chewed back his annoyance and nodded, causing his teammate to grin.
“C'mere, sweetheart,” Soldier beckoned, wrapping his arm around the taller man's waist. He seized hold of his belt to give him a firm grip. “Hold on tight!” The German dropped one hand from the quick fix, leaving the lever 'on', and wrapped his now-free arm around the American's shoulder, grabbing his bandolier. “When I give the signal, stand on my boot.”
“What?”
“Stand on my boot! I'm not holding you up by one arm the whole way!”
With that, they were off, running for the opening Medic had been assaulted from, charging full-bore. When the demoman reared his head, grenade launcher at the ready, Soldier turned on his heel, swinging Medic around with him, pulling him from his feet. “Now, Doc!”
Doing as he was told, Medic planted both feet on one of Soldier's, trying to spread his weight between top and toe, unsure as to what was going on.
Until he saw Soldier aim his rocket launcher at the ground and brace himself.
And fire.
The American took the brunt of the explosion, propelling them into the air at blistering speed. Wind ripped past them, tearing at their coats and draining the moisture from their eyes as they spun to face the direction they intended to land. Colours and shapes sailed downward faster than Medic could make them out, barns and bunkers screaming out of sight almost immediately.
As they reached higher and higher, nearing the apex of their ascent, time seemed to slow. They seemed to slow. Everything ceased to move except for the writhing agony of the doctor's guts and the rapid pounding of his heart. They were several stories up before he'd even known what had happened, soaring from the battlefield not like some great bird, but some mortar, some firework streaking up through the blue. Below them, combat stretched away, small and seemingly insignificant. The faint blob of colours that was the demoman, taken aback by the sudden explosion and absence of his quarry, was soon laid out, caught from behind by a different blur of colour coming up close against him. Spy, likely.
Medic breathed for the first time since lift-off, suddenly aware of the burning in his lungs. He heard a chuckle beside him and turned to the man who held him close, whose shoulder he was clinging to tightly to. The lines of his low, sloping forehead hidden beneath his helmet, his eyes peeked out from under it as it tilted back on his head. Bright blue, shining like the sky above, took in all of creation below them with a look of supreme ownership. This was his sky. This was his domain. He was the great eagle, ready to swoop down and snatch up his prey. Perhaps he'd already snatched his prey. Eyeing the angles and shapes of the American's face, Medic felt a specific sort of fluttering in his chest. Exhilaration of flight gave way to something that swelled with far more warmth in his breast. Soldier's strong jaw, underbite pushing his bottom lip forward, was set in a broad grin, teeth slightly parted. His eyes were alight with unbridled joy, a jubilant thrill that reflected in the face of the shorter man as childlike glee. Medic suddenly became very, very aware of the warm, strong arm around his waist, and the closeness of their bodies, pressed together tightly.
Bright blue eyes read the combat below Soldier, analyzing his trajectory and speed without knowing what any of those words meant. His grin grew far more malicious. Menace tainted his features. Their descent began.
Any idea the German held regarding the velocity of their travel upward now paled in comparison to re-entry, the wind rushing past ripping the air from Medic's lungs. The dive was fast, so fast, faster than he could think with his insides crushing up into his ribcage, his brain pressed against the inside of his skull. The impact that followed, however, brought it all crashing back into the correct location.
A sickening crunch heralded their surprisingly soft landing, the opposing Engineer crumpling beneath Soldier's boots. It had been a perfect two-point landing on the unsuspecting Texan, crushing his spine before he could react. The half-built sentry beside him sat immobile, inert without its master to set its construction into proper motion. Beneath their feet, the poor BLU lay dead, gone.
Soldier laughed as Medic let go of him, and unwound his arm from the doctor. “Nice jump, Sally!” he congratulated, rewarding the taller man with a hard slap across the bottom before fixing his helmet and hopping off of the corpse, running off toward the rest of the battle. The red beam of the Quick-Fix trailed after him, leaving Medic standing there stunned, his ass stinging, his face red, and his mind boggling. When the beam reached its limit, it powered off, snapping away from its target. Shaking his head to bring himself back to reality, Medic looked down and realized he was still standing on the ruins of the enemy Engineer, and quickly stepped off.
Soldier's cry of , “Medic!” from just over the ridge spurred him back into motion, and taking his Quick-Fix in both hands, he charged off after his teammate, into the thick of the fight.